ReasonTalk.com

I'm just blown away, I don't make much music these days but the stuff I've tinkered with is awfully cool.

Yes! Because in the past I knew very little about music and also the tools available to me were much, MUCH more limited - the music was better, more spontaneous and exciting

I notice the same thing as well. If I look too far back then its crappy..... but at a certain point I was like "what happened to the guy who could make this?"

I'm basically talking about Reason here. So many cool synths and stuff, why don't I make this cool stuff anymore?

dannyF wrote: ↑

14 Jun 2019

I was like "what happened to the guy who could make this?"

haha, I know that feeling too... I don't know what is exactly, if it's just that we get older and our brains aren't just as creative as when we were younger, or if it's work and life duties that burn our brains so bad that at some point we aren't able to create so constructive and free anymore or if it's just time making things look better than we did when we were creating them, but the feeling is there

ah syncronicity

"Do you ever go back and listen to old stuff and be amazed that you did that?"

Yes, and lately even more amazed!

Monotone allows me to move on quickly to other parts of a song. It's my new workhorse/sketching synth!

It helps with that 'big picture' creative flow.

I just realized that the vast majority of this was done in Reason 8. All the fun things I did with filters and stuff. I'm only about half way through it and it's weird how I'll use something once and then it's not my go-to. (In other words I really had gas for RE's back then)

quick answer. . . . all the time

Yep. As Reason gets bigger it gets more complex and you will def need to take more breaks to learn the new tools you get : )
Reason 5 is as simple as it's gonna get in our lifetimes man.

I used to listen to artists and immitate them best i could in Reason 8. The results were incredibly unique yet sounded nothing like what i was trying to immitate. An exampe is... I often couldn't figure out how certain riffs and sequences were made and i couldn't get close to them on the matrix or thor's step sequencer...so i worked them out and played/recorded them in at half tempo.
They are imo 100% better and more musical than the sequences i'm 'programming' today on all sorts o Re utility sequencers.
I used to play most stuff in but for some reason in he last 2 years i got lost in programming patching and mixing etc .
As Oquasec just said above it takes time to learn new Re's and new stock instruments/palyers etc. and all the new infinite possibilities in Reason which can induce migraines.

antic604 wrote: ↑

14 Jun 2019

Yes! Because in the past I knew very little about music and also the tools available to me were much, MUCH more limited - the music was better, more spontaneous and exciting

Yeah, I understand this feeling

reggie1979 wrote: ↑

14 Jun 2019

I'm basically talking about Reason here. So many cool synths and stuff, why don't I make this cool stuff anymore?

We'll ask you again in the distant future, if you like what you are doing now.

Sometimes I go back and listen to stuff I did ages ago and think what the hell was the refill that noise came from. Changed Refill location and HD so many times since.
Sometimes I listen to a guitar line I’ve played and think how the hell did I play that and spend ages trying different string and finger configurations until I can play it so it sounds “almost” the same.
Sometimes I think wow, this is pretty good I should rework it then realize it’s the crap, lo-fi bad production, mixing and playing which make it good .

I bet some pros do as well...
Take the Chemical Brothers for example, their new album is good and 'Further' in 2010 was a cracker but if you go back to nearly the beginning with 'Dig Your Own Hole' that was amazing. Off the cuff, exciting, unpredictable.
A bit like 808 state and '90' that album is madness but bloody great and an early one.

Maybe nostalgia plays a part too.

reddust wrote: ↑

14 Jun 2019

dannyF wrote: ↑

14 Jun 2019

I was like "what happened to the guy who could make this?"

haha, I know that feeling too... I don't know what is exactly, if it's just that we get older and our brains aren't just as creative as when we were younger, or if it's work and life duties that burn our brains so bad that at some point we aren't able to create so constructive and free anymore or if it's just time making things look better than we did when we were creating them, but the feeling is there

You're right man. All that creativity and passion is still there. And with more to come!

withnail wrote: ↑

15 Jun 2019

I bet some pros do as well...
Take the Chemical Brothers for example, their new album is good and 'Further' in 2010 was a cracker but if you go back to nearly the beginning with 'Dig Your Own Hole' that was amazing. Off the cuff, exciting, unpredictable.
A bit like 808 state and '90' that album is madness but bloody great and an early one.

Ha, I found that album in a thrift store a month ago for 1€. Played one of my all time favorites, 'Where Do I Begin', to my 5yo. By the end of the song we've gone completely nuts - jumping around in the room half naked and drumming on our chests like gorillas. Fun times.
That song combines simplicity, beauty and utter madness.

Yes i do. And sometimes i wonder how i Made this

This came to mind

there's elements of my old work that I like.
I guess as start paying attention to what's established as good practice you lose a little spontaneity and leave less room for 'happy accidents', intentionally or not.

Definitely. I still made my best stuff on a Commodore Amiga. When I hear those tracks I relive the energy I had back then. I made a whole bunch of loops and things on Reason but on the Amiga I made TRACKS.

pushedbutton wrote: ↑

15 Jun 2019

there's elements of my old work that I like.
I guess as start paying attention to what's established as good practice you lose a little spontaneity and leave less room for 'happy accidents', intentionally or not.

A lot of old Techno/House classics are "happy accidents".

Kind of... my earliest stuff was made before I got Reason and it sounds to me like it has a focus & simplicity that I struggle to achieve these days. Too many toys in the toybox. But I'm doing stuff now that when it all comes together, I like it better than anything I've done before. It all just seems to take longer and involve more effort, which is fine I guess. I took an enforced break from music production for about a year recently, and have to say it's been great for recharging the batteries. Returned to it with much more creative mojo

Yes I have quite a lot that I like and a few that I am quite excited by.

Now I 've had a break and I am very rusty. I yearn to get back to the point where I can do things quickly again like it is all second nature.